Reversing-gearing.



I To all whom it may concern:

' axle casings.

' "UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM W. HENDERSON, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, A SSIGNOR '10HYDRAULIC CLUTCH DRIVE (10., OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, A COR-POILATION OF DELAWARE.

REVERSING-GEARING.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented lllal'. 14:, 1911.

' Application filed September 6, 1910. Serial No. 580,573.

Be it. known that I, VILLIAM W. HENDER- son, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Washington, in the District of Columbia, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvementsin Reversing-Gearil'ig, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to gearing particularly adapted and intended forautomobile use, but capable of uses in other relations, if desired.

The object of 'the invention is to provide an improved reverse gearing.operating in connection with a driving shaft and the differentialgearing between the axle sections of the car. Y

By means to behereinafter described, the machine may be reversed withoutthe use of the ordinary reversing gear associated with the transmissionshaft, the reverse being effected by shifting a casing which inclosesthe planetary gearing, said casing being provided with right and leftgears which respectively mesh with pinions on the driving shaft for thepurpose of driving the axle sections in either direction.

I am aware that attempts have heretofore been made to accomplish thesame result by shifting the driving shaft in its bearings or supports,from one gear to another, butthis is objectional'ile for various reasonsThe invention is illustrated in the'accompanying drawings in which-Frgure 1 1s a plan view of the gearing,

the upper half of the gear casing being partly broken away; l*ig. 2View. I Fig. 3 is s s of Fig. 2.

Referring specifically to the drawings, (3 indicates the axle casings, 7the axle sections, and 8 the outer casing rigid with the The driving ortransmission shaft. is indicated at S), with its axis at a right angleto the axle, and it is supported in bearings 10 in a neck forn'iing apart of is a sectional a sectlonal detail on line planetary gearsmeshing with gears 13 on' the ends of the axle sections in a knownmanner, and being mounted in a casing 11 which has sleeves 15 fittingover fhe inner ends of the axle sections, a tubular bushing 16 beinginserted to take the wear. This differential casing may turn inbearingsli' the outer members of which are fixed to the outer casing S,as by bolts 18.

Inclosing the casing 14 of the differential gearing is a box 19, whichis non-rotatably connected to the differential casing by means of one ormore keys 20 which slide in grooves in the periphery of the differentialcasing, so that when the outer box is turned the differential gearing isalso turned. The box 1!) is provided at its opposite ends with theright. and left gears 21, properly located to respectively mesh with thedriving pinion 11: and the box 19 may he slid axially to engage eitherof said gears with said pinion. At each end of the box are rollerbearings 22 located between said box and the inner member 23 of ashifting device, the other member of which is indicated at 24. Themember 24- is fixed to the outer casing in any suitable manner, as bypins 25 projecting from the supports of the bearings 17, so that saidmember 24 cannot turn. The member 23 is capable of a turning movementupon a wearing sleeve 26 surrounding the sleeve 15 of the differentialcasing. Each member 23 and 21 consists of a ring having complcinentarysegmental projections on their adjacent or meeting faces, whichprojections interlock when the rings are closed together and which aredisengaged when the rings are separated, and one face of each projectionis beveled or inclined, as indicated at 27, so that when the rings areforcibly turned with respect to each other said inclined surfaces act ascams to force the rings apart and disengage said projections. As stated;each ring 23 may be turned to a lin'iited extent,- and when turned inone direction it operates as a cam. to disengage its projections fromthose of? its associatmlring 2 1- and to engage the projections of thepair of rings on the opposite side of the box 19; and the height of theprojections is such that when one pair of rings is completelydisengagedthe other pair is fully engaged. and, furthermore, when the disengagedring is fully turned the outer ends or surfaces 28 of its projectionswill move to a position directly opposite the outer ends of thecorresponding projections on its associated ring or member; that is, thetwo surfaces 28 will contact or abut against each other, formingpratically a solid block to stand the endwise thrust on the bearings 22incident to engagement of the pinion 11 with the gear 21. In otherwords,the solid support so formed will effectively prevent disengagement ofthegear 2] and the pinion 11.

It will be understood that when one ring 23 of one pair of shiftingmembers is moved so that its projections fall into the recesses betweenthe projections of the ring of that pair, the rings and 24 of theopposite pair of shifting members are in such position that the sides orsurfaces 28 are in contact, and the gear 21 on that side of the gear boxwill accordingly be engaged with the pinion 11, and vice-versa. Aneutral position is possible with both gears 21. out of mesh with pinion11, by so turning the movable shifting rings 23 that the projectionsthereon extend part way into the notches of the corresponding rings 24.This is the normal condition, and to produce the same, coil springs 30are located in a central recess between the members 23 and 24, tendingto separate said members, and the springs between each pair of saidmembers being balanced, will normally tend to separate each pairhalfway, thereby shifting the gear box 19 to middle position anddisengaging its gearsfrom the driving pinion 11.

.lhe movable shitting rings may be turned by any appropriate means. Ihave illustrated a rod 31 pivot-ally connected at 32 to each ring andworking in an opening in the housing 8, and connected to a lever 34. Bythis means each ring may be individually turned. Obviously various otherarrangen'ients may be made for turning the rings.

In operation, assuming the part-s to be in neutral position with theprojections on both pairs of rings partly engaged, one of the rings 23is turned in a direction to bring its cam surfaces 27 against the camsurfaces of its cooperating ring 24. The cam surfaces thus ride up eachother, thereby sliding the box 19 alongand causing its appropriate gear21 to en a 'e the drivin inion 11 and a C b '13 7 continued turn of thering brings the ends or surfaces 28 in opposition, thereby locking thegears together, so to speak, and supporting the same against thelateralthrust; and by the same movement the projections on the oppositepair of rings are forced between each other. The whole box 19 is thenfree to turn, and in consequence of the keys 20 the differential gearcasing 14 turns therewith and the axle sections will be driven in onedirection, the compensating movement being permitted by the ordinarydifferential gearing. To reverse the direction of drive the ring 23which was shifted, as above stated, is first turned back tobring itsprojections opposite the spaces between the projections of itsassociated ring 24. Then, the ring 23 on the opposite side is turned ina direction to cause its inclined surfaces 27 to ride up thecorresponding inclined surfaces of its associated ring 24, whieh'therebyshifts or forces the gear box 19 along until the oppo-- site gear 21 isengaged in the same manner, thereby reversing the direction of thedrive. The roller bearing 22 between the gearing box and the shiftingrings permits said box to turn freely to effect the drive, and thelevers 34 will merely have to be locked or held with sufficient force toovercome any slight turning tendency incident to the friction of theroller bearing. Obviously an ordinary notched segment or similar devicewill be sufficient for this purpose. The thrust or strain tending 'todisengage the pinion 11 and the gear 21 will thus exist at one sideonly, and will be transmitted through the bearings 22 on that side, tothe ring 23,'thc contacting surfaces 28 and the ring 24, to the solidsupport afforded by the casting which supports the bearings 17 and formsa part of the housing 8.

The invention thus provides a combined differential and reversinggearing which may be all supported and inclosed in a single housing onthe rear axle casing, thereby avoiding the necessity for the usualreverse gearing in the transmission and permitting the use of a changespeed gearing and clutch, such for example as that disclosed in my U. S.Patent No. 879,045 or my U. S. Patent No. 954,286.

I claim:

1. The combination of axle sections, connecting driving mechanismbetween the same including differential gearing and 0pposite gearsshiftable with respect to said sections and gearing, a driving device between said gears and engageable with either, and turning cam ringsextending around theaxle, and located on opposite sides of saidmechanism and bearing against the same and arranged to shift said "gearsto engage either with said driving device.

2. The combination of axle sections, a driving shaft extending at anangle thereto and a pinion thereon, connecting driving mechanism betweenthe pinion and axle sections, including differential gearing and a pairof opposite shiftable gears rigidly connected together and non-rotatablymounted on saidgearing either of which gears may be engaged with thepinion, and means to shift said gears for said purpose.

3. The'combination of axle sections, a different-ial gearing and itscasing between the same, a shifting box non-rotatably mounted on saidcasing and opposite gears thereon,

cam rings extending around the axle sec-- tions, on opposite sides ofthe" box, and adapted to be turned to move the box axially in eitherdirection, bearings between said' on, opposite wheels fixed on said box,a

air of shifting members supported in the musing on each side of the boxand adapted to shift the same axially, each pair comprising a fixedmember and a movable memher with contacting cam surfaces acting tospread said members and shift the box when the movable member isappropriately operated, and a driving pinion located between said wheelsand engageable with either when.

the box is shifted accordingly.

5, The combination of a housing, axle sections therein, a differentialgearing and its casing between the sections, a box rotating with saidcasing and shiftable axially thereon, opposite gears on said box, meansto exertfpressurebetween the housing and oppositesides of the box, toshift the latter in either direction, and a driving pinion iocatedbetween said gears and engageable with either.

6. The combination of a driven shaft or axle, a driving shaft arrangedat an angle thereto and a pinion thereon, a gear operativel connected tothe driven shaft and shifia le axially thereon into and out of engagement with the pinion, anii means to shift said gear comprising a airof rings extending around, the driven s wit and supporting the gear,said rings having correthe axle section turned to cause said inclinedprojections to ride up each other to shift the gear to engagernent withthe pinion, :-1nd with said blunt ends in contact with each other tosupport the thrust on the gear.

7. The combination of a housing, axle sections projecting into the same,a driven shaft extending into the same at an angle to said axle and adriving pinion thereon, a diderential gearing and its casing between theaxle sections, a box shit'table axially on the'casing and connectedthereto to rotate the same when the box is rotated, opposite gearscarried by said ,box and located on opposite sides of the pinion, eitherof which gears is engageable with the pinion, springs tending to shiftthe box to neutral position with both of said gears out of engagementwith the pinion. and means to shift the box in either direction toengage either gear with the pinion.

8. The combination of a housing, axle sections projecting into the same,a driven shaft extending into the same, at an angle to said axle and adriving pinion thereon, a diflerential gearing and its casing between abox shi ftable axially on the casing and connected thereto to rotate thesame When the box is rotated, opposite gears carried by said box andlocated on opposite sides of the pinion, either or" which gears isengageable with the pinion, springs tending to shift the box toneut-ralposition with both of said gears out of engagement with the pinion, andmeans to shift the BOX in either direction to engage either gear withthe pinion, said means comprising cam devices located respectivelybetween the housing and opposite sides of the box, and means to operatesaid devices to shift the box either way.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM W. HEJDEIRSON. Witnesses I C. W. Fon'nnu, GEO. E. Tnw.

